Nemesis To Go - Live: Dandi Wind at the ICA

Dandi Wind
Yoko Oh No!
Institute Of Contemporary Arts, London
Saturday April 14 2007

The ICA might be all about art, but it's still got to pay the rent. That's why, on Saturday nights, the venue reinvents itself as a not-particularly-arty dance club, albeit with a certain left-field flavour.

Tonight the left-field seasoning is provided by Yoko Oh No!, a performance artist whose act appears to consist of pretending (rather unconvincingly, it must be said) to be a Native American chief, while running around the venue shouting incoherently over laptop beats. It's fun for the first five minutes, but as soon as everyone realises that all Yoko Oh No! does is rush about with feathers in his hair, like a low-rent Ian Astbury from the early days of Southern Death Cult, the fun wears off very quickly. Frankly, if a bit of rushing about and hollering is all you've got to do to get a performance slot at the ICA these days, I think I may try for a gig there myself. I'm sure I could quite easily put together half an hour of equally pointless arsing around.

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Fortunately, Dandi Wind are soon upon us, with a show that's definitely a cut above what's gone before. On this occasion the band are somewhat restricted by the complete absence of a stage - the performance area is simply a spare corner of floor space at one end of the bar. Dandi brings on what I suppose you'd call a podium - at any rate, it's a small black box upon which she climbs, thus emerging head and shoulders above the crowd. The music cranks up, that giddy hurdy-gurdy sound of frantic rhythms over which, incredibly, Dandi manages to sing a non-stop stream of lyrics even as she's leaping about like she's got ants in her glittery leotard.

Hurling lemons and limes around like hand grenades, she's a whirl of blue sequins and bug eyes, now vanishing into the crowd, now popping up again on her podium, flailing about like a tic-tac man at a racecourse. She climbs up to the bar, and returns with yet more lemons and limes (that'll be the rider, then).

This show is, perhaps, a little more restrained than usual - although a 'restrained' Dandi Wind show still counts as a bout of amphetamine psychosis compared to any other band's performance. The absence of a stage, or, failing that, many random objects upon which to climb, boxes things in somewhat. An excercise bicycle makes an appearance at one point, but such is the crush of the crowd, surging forward with nothing to stop them taking over the entire performance area (a rather over-enthusiastic young lady even commandeers Dandi's podium), that I'm sure most people don't even know it's there. In the end, the show is a tour de force under trying conditions. How ironic that the ICA, of all venues, can't provide a decent space for art to happen.

Dandi Wind

Essential links:

Dandi Wind: Website | MySpace
Yoko Oh No!: MySpace

For more photos from this gig, find Dandi Wind by name here.

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Dandi Wind Yoko Oh No! Institute Of Contemporary Arts, London Saturday April 14 2007 The ICA might be all about art, but it's still got to pay the rent. That's why, on Saturday nights, the venue reinvents itself as a not-particularly-arty dance club, albeit with a certain left-field flavour. Tonight the left-field seasoning is provided by Yoko Oh No!, a performance artist whose act appears to consist of pretending (rather unconvincingly, it must be said) to be a Native American chief, while running around the venue shouting incoherently over laptop beats. It's fun for the first five minutes, but as soon as everyone realises that all Yoko Oh No! does is rush about with feathers in his hair, like a low-rent Ian Astbury from the early days of Southern Death Cult, the fun wears off very quickly. Frankly, if a bit of rushing about and hollering is all you've got to do to get a performance slot at the ICA these days, I think I may try for a gig there myself. I'm sure I could quite easily put together half an hour of equally pointless arsing around. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Fortunately, Dandi Wind are soon upon us, with a show that's definitely a cut above what's gone before. On this occasion the band are somewhat restricted by the complete absence of a stage - the performance area is simply a spare corner of floor space at one end of the bar. Dandi brings on what I suppose you'd call a podium - at any rate, it's a small black box upon which she climbs, thus emerging head and shoulders above the crowd. The music cranks up, that giddy hurdy-gurdy sound of frantic rhythms over which, incredibly, Dandi manages to sing a non-stop stream of lyrics even as she's leaping about like she's got ants in her glittery leotard. Hurling lemons and limes around like hand grenades, she's a whirl of blue sequins and bug eyes, now vanishing into the crowd, now popping up again on her podium, flailing about like a tic-tac man at a racecourse. She climbs up to the bar, and returns with yet more lemons and limes (that'll be the rider, then). This show is, perhaps, a little more restrained than usual - although a 'restrained' Dandi Wind show still counts as a bout of amphetamine psychosis compared to any other band's performance. The absence of a stage, or, failing that, many random objects upon which to climb, boxes things in somewhat. An excercise bicycle makes an appearance at one point, but such is the crush of the crowd, surging forward with nothing to stop them taking over the entire performance area (a rather over-enthusiastic young lady even commandeers Dandi's podium), that I'm sure most people don't even know it's there. In the end, the show is a tour de force under trying conditions. How ironic that the ICA, of all venues, can't provide a decent space for art to happen. Essential links: Dandi Wind: Website \| MySpace Yoko Oh No!: MySpace For more photos from this gig, find Dandi Wind by name here. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
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Back to top	Page credits: Review, photos and construction by Michael Johnson. Nemesis logo by Antony Johnston, Red N version by Mark Rimmell.